Selection Technique - Psychometric tests

Psychometric testing in strategic human resource management refers to the assessment of abilities, attributes, personality traits and various other skills in potential employees (Jenkins, 2001). As a method of recruitment and selection, these tests are designed to measure aspects of a candidate’s behaviour in a job role, enabling employers to gain a multidimensional understanding of prospective hires beyond a standard interview process (Bratton & Gold, 2007).

The recruitment and selection procedure present the employers with an opportunity to identify the personality of the candidates even before they are joined to the Organization (Bartram, 2004).

Selection tests are used to provide valid and reliable indication of levels of skills, intelligence, personality characteristics, talents, and attainments. Psychometric tests are measuring instruments, which is why they are often referred to as psychometric tests: ‘psychometric’ means mental measurement.  Psychometric tests assess intelligence or personality (Armstrong,2014).

They use systematic and standardized procedures to measure differences in individual characteristics, thus enabling selectors to gain a greater understanding of candidates to help in predicting the extent to which they will be successful in a job.  (Armstrong,2014).

Organisations around the world encountered a ‘war for talent’ for years. This war aimed on attracting and retaining employees with the ability to contribute towards achieving a sustainable competitive advantage in organisations (Thomas & Scroggins, 2006). 

List of References

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice, 13th edition. pp.226,236,238.

Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2007) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. 4^th ed. Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire.

Bartram, D. (2004). Assessment in Organizations. Applied Psychology: An International Review

Jenkins, A. (2001) Companies’ Use of Psychometric Testing and the Changing Demand for Skills: A Review of the Literature. London School of Economics and Political Science: London. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19541/1/Companies_use_of_psychometric_testing_and_the_changing_demand_for_skills_A_review_of_the_literature.pdf (Accessed: 18 November 2019).

Thomas, S. and Scroggins, W. (2006) ‘Psychological Testing in Personnel Selection: Contemporary Issues in Cognitive Ability and Personality Testing’, Journal of Business Inquiry, pp. 28-30. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wesley_Scroggins/publication/267237792_Psychological_Testing_in_Personnel_Selection_Contemporary_Issues_in_Cognitive_Ability_and_Personality_Testing/links/54b5340f0cf26833efd078c8/Psychological-Testing-in-Personnel-Selection-Contemporary-Issues-in-Cognitive-Ability-and-Personality-Testing.pdf (Accessed: 18 November 2019).